what is social entrepreneurship?

Understanding spheres of Understanding spheres of entrepreneurial discourseentrepreneurial discourse

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Entrepreneurship and Enterprise: lecture 10 Entrepreneurship and Enterprise: lecture 10

Dr Vijay Vyas Dr Vijay Vyas

◦ How people manage the entrepreneurial process◦ Definitions and identification of Social

Entrepreneurship ◦ What drives this activity… why do people do it…?◦ How do you measure success and progress –

eg/not just financial profit?◦ How do you gain funding for innovative social

enterprises when banks may be understandably unreceptive

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‘A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners'

(DTI, 2002).

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Works on business principles – profit efficiency and scaling up

Have social objectives Sells goods/services and reinvests profit in activities for

the common good – eg/ National Trust/Oxfam Charities…? Income may be topped up by Govt. grants, lottery

funding or other donations (philanthropy) in some cases at substantial levels…

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EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurial Behaviours and Outcomes

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EfficiencEfficiency driven y driven Surplus Surplus creation creation

Social enterprises exist to serve a social purpose

and in order to achieve this, they conduct some form of

trade

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Should have clear aims!Might include:Job creationTrainingProvision of local servicesImproving lives of disadvantaged people

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Also expected:Ethical values◦Local capacity building◦Addressing social disadvantage

Accountable to their members and the wider community

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Not constituted to distribute profits to individuals

Instead use their assets and incomes for the community they serve

Autonomous organisations Profits are distributed for the benefit of the

community or profit sharing to stakeholders

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Directly involved in the production of goods or the provision of services

They seek to be commercially viable via trading concerns that make an operational surplus

Run efficiently and try to scale up

Social enterprises are hybrid organisations that are expected to

perform in the market, but retain the management ethos and values of a local

charity.

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http://www.bigissue.org.uk/

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Entrepreneurship is not confined to private business only.

There are entrepreneurs, working towards positive social change rather then making profit for themselves

Social enterprises are different from charities as they are not dependent on donations and grants alone.

They also engage in some trade, are run efficiently like businesses and / or try to continuously scale up

These social enterprises are as important as are business enterprises.

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1. David Bornstein (2004) How to Change the World: social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas, Oxford University Press.

2. 2. Martin F. Thompson M. (2010) Social Enterprise. Palgrave MacMillan.

3. Bridge S. Murtagh B. O’Neill, K. (2009) Understanding the Social Economy and the Third Sector. Palgrave Macmillan.

4. A New Approach to Funding Social Enterprises. By: Bugg-Levine, Antony, Kogut, Bruce, Kulatilaka, Nalin, Harvard Business Review, 00178012, Jan/Feb2012, Vol. 90, Issue ½

5. Social Enterprises and the Timing of Conception: Organizational Identity Tension, Management, and Marketing By: Smith, Brett R.; Knapp, Joshua; Barr, Terri F.; Stevens, Christopher E.; Cannatelli, Benedetto L.. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 2010, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p108-134, 27p, 1 Chart;

6. Social Entrepreneurship as an Algorithm: Is Social Enterprise Sustainable? By: Trexler, Jeff. Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 2008, Vol. 10 Issue 3, p65-85, 21p;

7. http://www.sle.org8. http://www.startups.co.uk/charity-vs-social-enterprise.html

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